I have been reading about the protests in London, there were a quarter of a million people who marched against public sector cuts. Focusing on 500 radicals who caused problems really just plays into the hands of those who would discredit the larger movement for economic justice.

Ashland is an odd place. I lived there for a winter. That story doesn't surprise me in the least because everything they do there is in sharp recognition of the fact that the only economy they have is tourism-based. (Well, and SOU.) So that's why you have to pay a "prepared meal tax" (even if the "meal" is a Slurpee ), that's why the sidewalks are so clean, that's why you get better water than Medford does. It's All About The Tourists.

And homeless people tend to annoy tourists. So...